Translation Services

Proofreading and translation quality checks

An independent second linguist reviews your translation for accuracy, terminology and fluency before it goes out.

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Proofreading a translation means having a second qualified linguist read it against the original and check it is accurate, complete, consistent and fluent before it is published or sent. It is the independent quality check that turns "probably fine" into "checked and signed off". Prism Linguistics proofreads translations in more than 300 languages.

You might have a translation done in-house, by a freelancer, or by a machine tool, and need to be sure of it before it goes any further. That is exactly what this service is for.

What a review actually catches

A reviewer is not just looking for typos. Reading your translation alongside the source, they check that nothing has been left out or quietly added, that a key term is used the same way every time, that the grammar and register are right, and that the whole thing reads as though it was written, not converted.

These are the errors that slip past the person who did the original translation, because they are too close to it. A figure transposed, a negative dropped, a clause that drifted in meaning, a brand term translated when it should have been left alone. None of them look wrong on their own. All of them are caught by a fresh, qualified pair of eyes.

Machine translation, honestly assessed

A lot of proofreading requests are really post-editing: cleaning up the output of a machine translation tool. We are happy to do that, but we will be straight with you first. If the machine draft is solid, editing it is quick and good value. If it is weak, editing it can take longer than translating from scratch and still read like a patch job. We will tell you which situation you are in rather than bill you for polishing something that should be redone.

What we review

The work we are asked to check

Existing translations

Translations done in-house, by a freelancer or by another supplier, checked against the source before you rely on them.

Machine translation

Post-editing of machine output, with an honest view first on whether editing or retranslation is the better call.

English copy

Monolingual proofreading of English documents, including copy written by non-native speakers, for clarity and correctness.

Marketing material

Brochures, web copy and campaigns, checked for tone and impact as well as accuracy before they go public.

Legal and technical text

Contracts, reports and manuals, where a small slip in terminology can carry a real cost.

Pre-print checks

A final read of laid-out files before printing, to catch anything introduced during design.

Questions people ask

Proofreading FAQs

What does your proofreading check include?
A reviewer reads your translation against the original and checks for accuracy, anything missed or added, consistent terminology, grammar and spelling, and how natural it reads. If you supply a glossary or style guide, we check against that too. You receive the corrected text, usually with changes tracked so you can see what was done.
When should I have a translation proofread?
Whenever a translation was produced without an independent second check and the stakes are real: anything being published, anything legal or medical, anything customer-facing, and anything where an error would be expensive or embarrassing. If a translation already went through our four-eyes process, it has been checked and does not need this.
Can you check a machine-translated document?
Yes, and this is a common request. Reviewing and correcting machine output is called post-editing. We will tell you honestly whether the machine draft is good enough to edit, or so weak that a fresh translation would be quicker and no more expensive. We will not charge you to polish something that needs redoing.
Do you proofread English-only documents?
Yes. As well as checking translations against a source, we proofread monolingual documents, including English copy written by non-native speakers, reports, and marketing material, for grammar, spelling, clarity and tone.
How quickly can you turn proofreading around?
Reviewing is faster than translating, so proofreading usually comes back quickly. A reviewer handles a larger volume per day than a translator. Send us the document and your deadline and we will confirm what is realistic before you commit.

Want a second opinion on a translation?

Send us the translation and the original. We will review it, or tell you honestly if it needs more than a review.